Amazon.com Review
For those interested in redefining the way in which their business does its business,
SAP R/3 Business Blueprint: Understanding the Business Process Reference Model is worth a perusal. Authors Curran and Keller define their central idea--
business engineering--as a method by which information technology is used to design and reengineer business processes, such as sales and distribution, instead of simply automating them. And as is clear from the title, this concept is explored almost exclusively within the context of SAP R/3.
The book is broken down into four sections: "Business Engineering," "Process Engineering," "Architecture," and "Framework & Tools." These segments follow a sliding scale that goes from MBA esoterica to practical application to behind-the-scenes implementation. The first section is dedicated to such things as mapping out global goals and identifying the organization processes that need to be reengineered. Next, the authors get more fundamental, looking at ways in which SAP R/3 can enable a retooling of existing practice, illustrating this thought via case studies. Lastly, the book examines the details of an R/3 system and the tools in the R/3 arsenal. A terrific discipline-spanning volume, SAP R/3 Business Blueprint's one shortcoming is that it never addresses a world in which SAP R/3 might not be the ultimate answer to an organization's efficiency problems. But perhaps it wasn't meant to. --Sarah L. Roberts-Witt
Product Description
52114-6 Let SAP's R/3 change the way you think about business engineering This book is a businessman's bible about business process design. Using SAP's leading enterprise software product R/3 as a backdrop, it is the first book to explain the structure and content of common business processes that management deals with on a daily basis. The authors paint the future of business process change by giving the reader the terminology, content, and technology behind an evolving standard for enterprises in the new age(the business blueprint. Here is a collection of process and object descriptions that are the basis for streamlining your company in the future. The book explains how to understand the process content of systems like R/3 and apply it to your company. Most business software is applied on top of existing structures, to mimic old-fashioned methods and procedures. R/3 allows users to design and model processes all along the value chain, crossing functional and organizational boundaries, to achieve true integration.S AP R/3 Business Blueprint uses three main sections to present this paradigm in a style that is accessible across the organization: *Business Engineering sketches the big picture for high-level decision makers, without getting bogged down in technical detail. Senior managers can gain familiarity with the major features and tools available under R/3, and learn the most important aspects of its evaluation and implementation. *Process Design details R/3's applications to such specific fields as sales, production, finance, and human resources. Practical business process scenarios are used throughout the book to show R/3 in action in a variety of settings. *Architecture, Framework, and Tools provides nuts-and-bolts information for IS professionals. A thorough overview of the technical specifications and structure shows how organizations can easily implement R/3 to improve stabilization and communication across departments and processes. In particular, this book explains the impact of new technologies such as Windows( NT( and the Internet on future business process design. It considers the scenarios that companies will need to integrate based on a common business process understanding.Developed by an international team, SAP R/3 Business Blueprint draws on nearly a decade of client/server history in organizations around the world to present a complete, inside look at this powerful tool for enterprise-wide business engineering. 0-13-521147-6
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